As I understand it, VW have now opted to make many features available as subscriptions, using a 3rd party (Cubic) to manage these. Many of the cars are described as We Connect or We Connect Plus READY. The ready bit menas the necessary hardware is in the car, but to make them operational most of the options are now enabled via the Infotainment system with the appropriate subscription activation by Cubic.

Its basically a cash cow for VW for services which were free on previous models, or had longer 3 or 10 year subscriptions from VW in the case of earlier T-Rocs, now they are mostly annual.

 

Thanks for the info, Impala. Nothing surprises me when it comes to VW! They will latch onto anything to extract cash from their customer's pockets.
Are there any recent owners out there who may be able to comment?

 

I'm afraid I don't know much if anything useful about Cubic and what it provides as standard.

If they have an option for you to purchase data packages, that might suggest that VW are now using this rather than their previous Car Stick to provide a built in 3G/4G internet access but the owner has to purchase the data allowance. Do you have any details of prices, data amounts and expiry ?

It is obviously worth comparing the cost of that vs either a dedicated dongle or using your phone. It depends how much internet access you would use and what for. I understand internet music and radio may be available, but it could be a high price just to use the integrated VW system.

Personally the dongle works well for me. It is permanently connected to one of the USB ports, so it doesn't use a battery or require charging and is always available and completely seemless regardless of who is driving and it can provide internet access for passengers. The upfront cost of my dongle was ~ £40 and I got a free Three data SIM which has 200 MB of free data every month. I've never had to top it up, so I haven't paid a penny for data over 18 months, but I don't use the internet much in the car and it is mostly for the extra features it provides for Sat Nav and Car Net.

I believe tethering works better with some phones than others and may suit if you already have a data bundle.

 

Thanks Impala, my iPhone has a good data bundle on it so that will suffice initially. Like you, I would not use the internet in the car except for navigation and traffic info. I like the idea of a dongle if I can get a decent (and cheap) data package.

 

Hi @Newtoit, I initially bought a Huawei E5573 unlocked mobile wifi router from Three which cost £40 including a PAYG SIM with 1GB of data valid for 30 days. That unit was battery powered so it wasn't physically wired to the car but had two major issues - the battery life was much shorter than advertised and ran down in less than 24 hrs on standby, plus it would constantly go to sleep in the car and had to be switched off and on again to restore operation. Although the battery could be charged through a USB cable, the USB sockets in the car are only powered with the ignition on and my short journeys weren't enough to charge the battery to last overnight. I returned it and got a replacement, which turned out to have the same issues so I returned that too for a refund. @Hawkeye had the 'same' device from BT which was locked but he didn't experience the same issues.

I then bought a Huawei E8372 Wingle (USB dongle) for around £41 from Amazon (currently ~ £39 https://www.amazon.co.uk/Huawei-E8372-Wingle-Unlocked-modem-White/dp/B014WMEJ2Q?ref_=fsclp_pl_dp_8 ). This didn't have any data included, but at that time (mid 2019) Three had a special offer for a free PAYG data reward SIM with 200MB free data each month. This can be topped up if needed, but I've never used more than about 50MB in a month and so have never paid a penny for data. Currently Three have a PAYG data SIM which has a similar 200MB data free each month, but it comes preloaded with 1GB of data valid for 30 days so it has a one-time upfront cost of £10 (see http://store.three.co.uk/view/searchTariff?deviceType=SIM_ONLY_MBB&priceplan=&greatForServices=&manufacturerName=&payGPriceForTariff=50to99.99&payGPriceForTariff=0to49.99 )

I'm not saying this is any better than using a mobile phone and existing data allowance, but at the time I didn't have a data capable phone so it was my only option. I have since upgraded my phone, but I much prefer the usb dongle and I'm very happy that it does all I need without giving it a thought or ever having to even touch it and it lies hidden at the back of the centre storage cubby in front of the gear lever.

The above links are just for info if you or any other readers want to consider the same approach.

 

Hi Impala,
Many thanks for all of the advice; much appreciated. The links are good and I reckon that I will do the same as you once my car arrives.

 

I have exactly the same setup as Impala and it all works perfectly. Especially the free data bit - you cant go wrong there

Its a simple fit and forget solution, with no messing about with your phone each time you get in the vehicle.

I think we both started looking into this almost 18months ago and came to the same result

 

Thanks Tiger,
I am still waiting on my delivery but will use this clever fix once I have the car.